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<\/p>\nDuolingo Redesigns Character After Backlash: \u2018We Apologize To Anyone We\u2019ve Offended\u2019
\nDuolingo has redesigned one of its characters and issued an apology after its design prompted a huge backlash.<\/p>\n
The educational technology company had come under fire for how it portrayed one of its characters, and has now addressed the controversy by saying sorry.<\/p>\n
Duolingo\u2019s core cast of characters
\nDuolingo took to its website to reveal that it had redesigned one of its most beloved characters two years ago.The company specializes in helping users learn an almost countless number of new languages and, in doing so, utilizes virtual characters to help with each lesson.<\/p>\n
There are 10 core characters within Duolingo. Each character comes complete with their own unique personality and custom text-to-speech voices to further aid with the learning of a new language.<\/p>\n
Duolingo\u2019s main cast of characters are Duo the owl, Lily, Zari, Bea, Lin, Lucy, Eddy, Junior, Oscar, Vikram, and Falstaff.<\/p>\n
Lin, Bea, and Oscar are also representatives of the LGBTQIA+ community, to further bring inclusivity to Duolingo\u2019s offerings.<\/p>\n
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One Duolingo character sparked backlash
\nDespite Duolingo\u2019s efforts, it admitted in 2024 that it had received feedback regarding one of its characters and how they had been represented.<\/p>\n
Taking to the blog page of its website, the Duolingo team explained: \u201cWhen it comes to character design, it is important to consider how a character may be perceived by a global audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
When negative feedback about one of the core characters reached Duolingo, they explained how they set about changing the character\u2019s appearance so as not to further lean into offensive and problematic stereotypes regarding the character\u2019s ethnicity.<\/p>\n
Going into detail about the decision-making that goes into the character design process, Duolingo\u2019s team explained: \u201cWhen designing a character, it\u2019s important to know that certain shapes can suggest details about a character\u2019s personality, for better or for worse. For example, large, blocky arms might imply that a character is strong, but it could also imply that a character is rigid or unmoving.\u201d<\/p>\n
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In a recent post on LinkedIn, Duolingo further explained: \u201cEverybody makes mistakes, and we\u2019re not afraid to admit that we messed up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re teaching more than 40 languages to millions of people around the world, representation is everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we realized we slipped up, we had two choices:
\n\u2022 Get defensive and tell our employees that our intentions were good.
\n\u2022 Listen, learn, and take accountability to make sure it doesn\u2019t happen again.
\nThere\u2019s really only one right answer. (Hint: it\u2019s #2.)\u201d<\/p>\n
The LinkedIn post continued: \u201cBuilding a global product means constantly learning and being willing to admit when you\u2019ve fallen short. Shoutout to the employees who spoke up (even when it was uncomfortable) and to our design team for putting in the work to make this right.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know representation isn\u2019t a checkbox. It\u2019s a commitment, and we\u2019re committed to doing it right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which character sparked backlash?
\nThe character which caused the concern was Vikram, Duolingo\u2019s Sikh character.<\/p>\n
In the post, entitled, \u2018Vikram\u2019s redesign: From negative stereotypes to authentic representation,\u2019 the Duolingo team explained: \u201cOur goal for Vikram\u2019s redesign is to make the Sikh community feel seen by improving his look to feel more authentic, and to refine his shape design language to be more on brand with our style.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was then revealed what negative aspects of Vikram\u2019s appearance had been highlighted and how Duolingo had sought to change these.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe received feedback that Vikram\u2019s torso, which is basically a sphere, was evoking a \u2018jolly and big belly\u2019 feeling similar to Santa Claus. This, combined with his illustrations often being food-related, resulted in a Sikh stereotype perceived as harmful in South Asian media.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe met with a Sikh sensitivity consultant as well as a committee of South Asian Duolingo employees who volunteered their time to help bring to our attention some problematic stereotypes in Vikram\u2019s existing design.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Duolingo team then further explained how they had taken inspiration from Sikh celebrities when redesigning Vikram.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOur committee of South Asian Duos helped us find examples of Sikh men in popular media who are portrayed as confident, hardworking, academic, and capable.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving these positive examples of Sikh men was very helpful in redesigning Vikram to feel more authentic to real life. We loved finding inspiration from our favorite Sikh celebrities, like Diljit Dosanjh and Waris Ahluwalia!\u201d<\/p>\n
The blog post also delved into the shape change of Vikram and how his previous look may have been perceived.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we first designed Vikram, we used a lot of circles to imply that he is friendly and approachable because circles are soft. However this also may have given the impression that he is big bellied, jolly, or lazy.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeeping this in mind, we altered some of Vikram\u2019s shapes, like his turban and his torso, to achieve a more inclusive design while also staying true to our design language.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reactions to Duolingo\u2019s posts have been positive and appreciative. One LinkedIn user commented: \u201cAt first, I looked at the images and didn\u2019t notice a significant difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe changes are really subtle, but the article is excellent and makes it clear that subtly is the point. A great job of keeping to what made the previous idea strong while recognising the unintended consequences and addressing them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another user added: \u201cVery interested to read the article to understand more about what was wrong with his original design.<\/p>\n
\u2018Through your transparency, many of us are probably learning about a culture about which we are less familiar. Thank you for sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third commenter replied: \u201cA great lesson to young cartoonists! It\u2019s easy to fall into the trap of leaning on stereotypes in cartoons. Taking ownership of a mistake and fixing it is the way to address and correct it quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related Article: Walmart Removes \u2018Offensive\u2019 T-Shirt Featuring Hidden Swear Word<\/p>\n
Related Article: Wednesday Fans Outraged Over Rude Doll And Demand It\u2019s Pulled From Shelves<\/p>\n
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\nJoe is a freelance journalist with more than a decade of experience, specialising in trending, lifestyle, entertainment and sports news. He studied Journalism and Broadcasting at the University of Salford and has since worked with established publishers such as LADbible, UNILAD and Sports Illustrated. His reporting covers breaking news, in-depth features and interviews across wrestling, football and the wider entertainment landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Duolingo Redesigns Character After Backlash: \u2018We Apologize To Anyone We\u2019ve Offended\u2019 Duolingo has redesigned one of its characters and issued an apology after its design<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viral-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12001"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12006,"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12001\/revisions\/12006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralscontent.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}